Method of spinning single ply yarn composed of both relatively long and relatively short fibers



Sept. 19, i9

E. NUTTER ETAL 2,358,656 METHOD OF SPINNING SINGLE FLY YARN COMPOSED OFBOTH RELATIVELY LONG AND RELATIVELY SHORT FIBERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Dec. 22, 1942 lnvenTors. FronK Everefl NuTTer' ErfnesT l. Spence 5pt 19, 44- F. E. NUTTER ETAL 2,358,656

SPINNING SINGLE FLY YARN COMPO METHOD SED OF BOTH REL VELY LONG ANDRELATIVELY SHORT FIBERS Filed Dec. 22, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 7lnven'fora- FmnK Evere'fi Nufler ErnesT-LSpence WWWW A ysp 1944- F. E;NUTTER ETAL 2,358,656

METHOD OF SPINNING SINGLE FLY YARN COMPOSED OF BOTH RELATIVELY LONG ANDRELATIVELY SHORT FIBERS Filed Dec. 22, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.6.

E I E 20 g as l8 a lZ a Shofl Fibre l Rov'mg' I 7 Buck Rolls Long FibreRov'm l3 l'z Q Fig.8. Back Currier Roll v l Drul1ol lZTolS Fron1C urv-lerRoll ll Drufl of 12105 42 Fronl Rolls lhvenTors,

Frank Eyerefi Nulrer Ernesr l. 3penc'e A'Hys.

Patented Sept. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-- METHOD OF SPINNINGSINGLE PLY YARN COMPOSED OF BOTH RELATIVELY LONG AND RELATIVELY SHORTFIBERS Application December 22, 1942, Serial No. 469,818

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of single ply yarn containingboth relatively long fibers comparable in length to those of wool ormohair and relatively short fibers comparable in length to cotton fiber.

One type of spinning apparatus commonly used for spinning a yarn from aroving of relatively long fibers is that sometimes referred to as the"worsted type," of which a spinning apparatus known as the Bradfordsystem" is an example.

For spinning a roving of relatively short fiber such as cotton, aspinning apparatus of the socalled cotton type is commonly used.

In the U.- S. patent to Nutter #2,016,387, October 8; 1935, there isdisclosed a spinning apparatus operating on the Bradford system by whicha single ply yarn containing both long and short fibers can be producedby feeding a long fiber roving to the back rolls of the spinningapparatus and drafting said roving between the back rolls and the frontrolls to the extent that similar long fiber roving is usually drafted,and also feeding a short fiber roving to the carrier rolls and draftingsaid latter roving between the carrier rolls and the front rolls, thetwo individually drafted rovings being delivered simultaneously from thefront rolls and being twisted together to produce a single ply yarn.

' In the device of said Patent #2,016,387, the carrier rolls, whichfunction as back rolls for the roving of cotton or other short fiber,operate at about the same surface speed as the back rolls, and as aresult, the amount of draft given to the cotton roving is approximatelythe sameas that given to the long fiber roving.

In spinning a roving of long fibers according to the Bradford system, itis a commonly accepted rule that the draft shall not exceed the fiberlength of the stock, that is, assuming the fiber length to be 8 inches,the draft shall not exceed 8, by which is meant that the amount ofattenuation of the roving between the back rolls and the front rollsshall not be more than is required to reduce the size and weight of theroving as it leaves the front rolls to one-eighth of that it had as itentered the back rolls.

If "a greater draft is used, the number of filaments or fibers in theportion of the roving between the back rolls and the front rolls is soreduced-that the carrier rolls do not provide sufficient friction on theroving to maintain the. fibers in their true course, and as a result,many of the fibers assume a position with the trailing ends thereofprojecting more or less thereby resulting in a rough yarn.

In spinning cotton and similar short staple fiber, however, it is moreor less common to use a draft of from 12 to 15.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide improvementsin the apparatus and method of said Patent #2,016,387 by which the draftof the long fiber roving can be increased to that normally used indrafting a roving of short fibers such as cotton so that the twoindividually drafted rovings, i. e., the roving of long fibers and theroving of short fibers are bothsubjected to the normal draft used indrafting 15 cotton (which, as stated above, is considerably longer thanthat heretofore commonly used in drafting a roving of long fiber such aswool or mohair), without, however, producing any of the disadvantagesheretofore developed when a long fiber roving is subjected to a draftconsiderably longer than the length of the fiber.

With the present invention the two individually draftedrovings, i. e.,the long fiber roving and the short fiber roving, may both be subjectedto the normal amount of draft used in cotton spinning which isconsiderably greater than that normally used in drafting a long fiberroving according to the Bradford system, thus materially increasing theoutput of the spinning machine,

and this can be done without impairing in any way the quality of theyarn.

In order to give an understanding of the invention, we have illustratedin the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be 5described after which the novel features will be pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a spinning frame operating on theBradford system and em- 40 bodying our invention.

. PE. 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the carrier rolls andtumbler rolls and the endless apron' associated therewith.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the support for the tensionroll.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tension roll.

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating the driving connections for the backrolls, front rolls, and carrier rolls of the drafting system.

Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating the drafting of thetwo rovings.

Referring first to Fig. 1, l indicates a portion of a spinning frameequipped with a drafting apparatus 2 operating on the so-called Bradfordsystem and which includes the back rolls 3, 4, I; the front draftingrolls 3, I; the intermediate carrier rolls 9, 9 and the correspondingtumbler rolls III, II, and also a twisting and winding device 34 forimparting the spinning twist to the yarn and winding it on a yamreceiver 39.

I2 indicates a roving of relatively long fibers such as wool or mohairfibers, and I3 indicates a {logging of relatively short fibers such ascotton The long fiber roving I2 is shown as being withdrawn from a spoolI4 and the short fiber roving as coming from a spool or bobbin I! bothof which are suitably mounted on the frame I, both rov' ings beingguided. by any usual guide 36. The front drafting rolls 6, 'I and theback rolls 3, 4, 9 are so set that the spac between the front and backrolls is slightly more than the fiber length of the long fiber roving I2as usual in apparatus delivered directly to the nip of the back rolls 4,I.

The lower front roll I, the lower back roll 5, and the,carrier rolls 9,9 are positively driven, while'the upper front roll 9 is yieldlngly heldagainst the lower front roll, and the back rolls 3, 4 are alsoyieldingly held against the back roll 5 as is usual in spinningapparatus of this type.

Fig. 6 illustrates how the rolls I, 8, 9, and 3 may be driven.. Thefront roll I is mounted on a suitable shaft I9 that is'provided with adriving gear I! which is driven from any suitable source of power. Thisshaft I9 is connected through suitable reducing gearing I9 to the,shaftI9 carrying the lower back roll 5, and said shaft I9 is connected by atrain of gearing 29 to the shaft 2I carrying the carrier roll 9. Theshaft 2I is connected to a shaft 22 carrying the front carrier roll 8 bygears 23, 24. The gearing 20, 23, 24 is preferably such that the carrierrolls 9, 9 will operate with approximately the same surface speed as theback rolls, but the train of gearing l3 connecting the shafts I9 and I9is such that the surfacespeed of the front rolls 9, I i increasedconsiderably relative to the surface speed of the back rolls over whatis normally used in drafting a long fiber roving.

-In fact the speed of the front rolls 6, I may be H increased relativeto that of the back rolls 4, 5 so as to produce a draft between the backand front rolls which is comparable to the normaldraft used in draftinga cotton roving, and as stated above a intermediate back roll 4 andthelower back roll I and thence passes over the carrier rolls and betweenthe latter and the tumbler rolls, but as these carrier rolls areoperating at substantially the same surface speed as the back roll 5,there will be no drafting action on the short fiber rovfiber roving l3will be subjected to a draft be-. tween the carrier rolls and the frontrolls which corresponds to that used in drafting a cotton or other shortfiber roving and which for illustrative purposes may be considered as adraft of 12 to 15.

The long fiber roving I2 receives its back roll gripping action betweenthe upper back roll 3 and the intermediate back roll 4, and thedraftingaction on this long fiber roving takes place between the backrolls and the front rolls as usual.

roll, and since the back rolls are operating at draft of 12 to 15 ormoreis often used in drafting a that of the front carrier roll 9 will besuch as to produce therebetween substantially the same amount of draftas is produced between the front rolls and the back rolls, which is adraft such as is usually used in drafting cotton or other shortfiber, i.e., a draft of from 12 .to 15 or more.

The short fiber roving I3 passesbetween the more or less.

To avoid this difficulty, we have provided an substantially the samesurface speed as the front carrier roll, the long fiber roving I2 willthus experience a draft of 12 to 15 in traveling from the back rolls tothe front rolls. The tumbler rolls I0, II do not interfere at all withthe drafting of the long fiber roving, because while said roving isbeing reduced in size as it travelsfrom the back roll to the frontrolls, the short fiber roving. I3 retains its full size until after itpasses the front carrier roll 8 and the co-operating tumbler roll I0, sothat the pressure of the tumbler rolls I0, I I is taken largely by thefull siz short fiber roving I3, and the tumbler rolls III, II, which areweighted more or less, do not apply sufficient pressure to the longfiber roving during it attenuation to interfere in any way with thedrafting thereof,

When a long fiber roving is given a draft of 12 to 15, said rovingbecomes so attenuated that the carrier rolls do not provide sufiicientfriction on the long fibers to maintain all of them in a true course,and the result is that some of th fibers are apt to assume a positionout of their true course and with their trailing ends projecting endlessapron 25, preferably of leather, which passes around the carrier rolls9, 9 and which is driven thereby so that in passing from the rolls 9 andII to the rolls. 8 and III, the long fiber roving is contacting withless apron.

During the drafting operation on the long fiber roving I2, as soon as thleading end of any long fiber is caught by the nip of the front rolls 6,'I,'

said fiber will be pulled forward rapidly because of the increased speedat which the front rolls are operating, and, as stated above, it isproposed to drive these front rolls at a speed sufiicient to I produce adraft of from 12 to 15.

As eachof the long fibers i drawn forward the upper run of this end2,ses,eue

the upper run of this apron serves to support the highly attenuated longfiber roving and thus prevents rupture or breakage thereof.

This is shown diagrammatically in Figs. 7 and 8. In Fig. 7, theattenuation or drafting of the two rovings is shown by a reduction inthe diameter thereof, while in Fig. 8, this is shown by shading. In Fig.7, for instance, there is shown the front rolls 6 and l, the tumblerrolls l and I and the back rolls 4 and 5. The 'short fiber roving I3 isshown as passing between the back rolls 4 and 5 and then underneath thetumbler rolls nd Ill and thence to the front rolls. The drafting of thisshort fiber roving between the front carrier rolls and the front rolls iindicated by the tapered shape of the portion 40 of said roving.

The long fiber roving I2 is shown passing over the intermediate backroll 5 (it being understood that this roving passes over the top backroll 3- and thence between said back roll 3 and the intermediate backroll -4) and then passing over the carrier rolls to the front rolls. Astated above, the drafting of this long fiber roving takes place betweenthe back rolls and the front rolls, an operation which is indicated bythe tapered shape of the portion of the roving between said back rollsand front rolls,

.In this long fiber roving, the trailing ends of some of the fibers tendto takea position extending laterally from the roving as indicated at 4|in Fig. '7. When the front end of each long fiber of the roving 4| isgripped by the front rolls 6 and I, it will be drawn rapidly forwardbetween the carrier rolls and tumblerroll and over the apron 25. Asstated above, the friction of these fibers on the apron is sufllcient tobring the trailing ends 4| into line with the direction of movement ofthe fiber thereby causing the fibers to maintain throughout their lengtha true course and produce a smoother attenuated roving.

Situated immediately in the rear of the front carrier rolls is a trumpet42 through which the attenuated rovings pass' as they are delivered tothe front rolls. The wide end of this trumpet is of sufiicient dimensionto receive both rovings, and it serves the purpose of bringing the twoattenuated rovings together at the nip of the front rolls 6, I.

This trumpet has a further effect in producing a smooth drafted rovingrelatively free from objectionable protruding fiber ends.

In Fig, 8 the positions of .the back rolls, carrier rolls, and frontrolls are shown by transverse lines, and the lining in said figureindicates the drafting operation of the two rovings. This figure isintended to show how the short fiber roving I3 is given a draft of from12 to 15 between the front carrier rolls and the front rolls and how thelong fiber roving is given the same draft of 12 to 15 between the backrolls and the front rolls, such draft of 12 to 15 being considerablygreater than that to which rovings of wool, mohair or other long fiberis usually subjected.

The carrier rolls are shown as formed with necked portions 26 to receivethe endless apron 25 so that the outer surface of the apron comes fiushwith the surface of the rolls.

To keep the apron taut, we employ a tension roll 21 which occupies thelower loop of the apron and which is provided at its ends with trunnions28 that are received in open bearings 29 formed in arms 30 that arepivoted at 3| to a U-shaped bracket 32 which in turn is secured to theportion 33 of the frame.

draft of 12 to 15 in both rovings, yet such reference is intended to beillustrative' only as the invention would not be departed from if theamount of draft varied somewhat from the 12 to 15 limits mentioned. Weclaim:

1. The method of spinning a single ply yarn composed of both relativelylong fiberscompar-, able in length to mohair fiber and relatively shortfibers comparable in length to cotton fiber on a spinning machineoperating on the so-called 1 Bradford system and having back rolls,front drafting rolls and front and back carrier rolls intermediate thefront drafting rolls and the back rolls and in which the front draftingrolls are properly spaced from the back roll for drafting a roving ofthe relatively long fibers and are properly spaced from the frontcarrier roll for drafting a roving of th relatively short fibers, whichmethod consists in 'feeding to the back rolls two rovings. one composedof the relatively long fibers and the other composed of the relativelyshort While we have referred above to producing a fibers, drafting theroving of relatively short fiber between the .front rolls and the frontcarrier roll and operating said front drafting rolls at a surface speedrelative to the front carrier roll which will produce a draft of therelatively short fiber roving that correspond substantially to the draftwhich said relatively short fiber roving would nor-' mally receive whendrafted according to the socalled cotton system, drafting the roving. ofrelatively long fibers between the front rolls and the back rolls andoperating the back rolls atsubstantially the same surface speed as thatof the front carrier roll thereby producing a draft of the roving ofrelatively long fibers which also corresponds to the draft usually givento ashort fiber roving when drafted according to the socalled cottonsystem and which is considerably greater than that which would normallybe given to the said roving of relatively long fibers if drafted.according to the Bradford system and supporting the portions of the longfiber roving between the front and back carrier rolls on a travelingbelt which is moving at the same surface speed'as that of the carrierrolls, thereby reducing danger of breakage of the highly attenuated lonfiber roving and eliminating the existence of wild fibers therein.

2. .A method of spinning a single plyyarn composed of both relativelylong fibers comparable in length to mohair fiber and relativelyshortfibers comparable in length to cotton fiber on a spinning machineoperating on the so-called Bradford system and having three superposedback rolls, front drafting rolls and carrier rolls with cooperatingweighted tumbler rollsbetween the back rolls and front rolls, and inwhich the front rolls are properly spaced from the back rolls fordrafting a roving of the relatively long fiber and are properly spacedfrom the front carrier roll for drafting a roving of the relativelyshort fibers, which method consists in so feeding a roving of the longfibers to the back rolls that said roving receives its back-roll gripbetween the top and intermediate back rolls, feeding a roving of there1atlvely short fibers to the lower two back rolls. drafting the rovingof relatively short fiber between the front drafting rolls and the frontcarrier roll and operating the front drafting roll at a surface speedrelative to the front carrier roll which will produce a draft of therelatively short fiber roving that corresponds substantially to thedraft which such a roving normally receives when drafted according tothe so-called "cotton" sys- 1 that given to a cotton roving when draftedac tern, drafting the roving of relatively long nber cording to thecotton system and which is con- 7 between the front drafting rolls andthe back rolls siderabiy greater than the draft that would norandoperating the back rolls and the front carmally be given to said longfiber roving when rier roll at substantially the same surface lpeed, 5drafted according to the Bradford system. thereby producing in theroving of relatively 1on8 FRANK EVERETT NU'I'I'ER.

nberadraftofsubstantiailythesameextent'as ERNEBTLBPENCE.

